Page 63 of Shadowing Charlotte
"Please," I whispered, turning and hurrying across the wide hall. I wasn't meant to start my period for a week, but Adam didn't need to know that.
I entered the bathroom, my heart pounding, and approached an older looking woman at the sink. "Ma'am, I really need help. Can I use your phone?"
Her eyes raked me over, lingering on my state of dress. "Please, I promise I'm not going to run off with it. I need to call my dad," I pleaded. I didn't know if it was the desperation in my whisper or the state of appearance, but she finally nodded, pulling her cell from her purse. "Thank you," I breathed.
I didn't remember Alexander's number, so I called my father.
"Hello?"
"Daddy, I don't have a lot of time, please listen." I spoke hurriedly into the phone. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay, Charlotte. Alexander said Adam kidnapped you. How the fuck am I supposed to be okay?"
"But you're not hurt? No one has been following you?" I asked anxiously.
"No, baby. No one has been following me."
"Okay, then. I need you to listen. Adam brought me to the airport. We're in terminal three and the plane to Florida is boarding in about five minutes. Please, just send somebody to help. I have to go… Be careful, Daddy."
"Wait, Charlotte—" I hung up, knowing I only had a minute left before Adam would storm into the bathroom to check on me.
"Thank you," I told the woman, handing her the phone.
"Is everything alright?"
"It will be," I replied, the words more of a prayer than anything else.
"Charlotte, we gotta go!" Adam called impatiently from outside.
"Thank you!" I whispered again, leaving the bathroom. "False alarm," I told Adam as I exited the bathroom.
"Good, I want to spend as long as I can fucking you," he replied. I felt the coffee in my stomach churn, rising in my throat. Snatching the sweater from him, I tied it around my hips, before reaching for the bag of items he'd bought me. "Your boarding pass," he murmured, handing me the ticket.
"First class?" I asked, glancing up at him in surprise as we approached the gate.
"Don't get too used to it. We won't be flying for a while," he replied. I wondered if Andrew knew his son was spending his money on kidnapping plots. It didn't matter anymore; nothing Adam did mattered anymore. Daddy was safe; he wasn't being followed.
"Attention passengers. Due to an unforeseen safety concern, flight three-seventeen to Miami, Florida has been delayed." The sound over the speaker above the gate sent a wave of relief through me, my shoulders relaxing for only a moment before Adam gripped my arm, squeezing roughly.
"What did you do?!" he snarled, looming over me.
"I didn't do anything!" I replied, trying to pull my arm away. Adam reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded knife and flicking it open.
"I swear to God, Lottie—"
"How the fuck did you get that through security?" I gasped as he pressed the knife against my stomach. It was small, oddly shaped; I didn't understand how it hadn't been detected.
"Ceramic," he murmured, smirking at me, pressing the tip into the fabric of my shirt. "If you did anything to fuck with our plans—"
"I didn't!" I insisted, shaking my head. "There's probably an issue with the plane. I'm sure they'll have a new one for us any minute." That's when I noticed the security. TSA agents, more than one or two, slowly edging around the terminal gates.
Daddy… Daddy called for help.
Unfortunately, Adam seemed to notice at the same time I did, yanking me closer and pressing the knife against my neck. The world around me went silent, everything narrowing until all I could see was Adam's furious expression; all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.
"You realize that if I can't have you, no one will," he whispered the threat, leaning in to kiss my temple in a way that should have been intimate and tender; instead, filling me with dread.
"Charlotte!" It was the most glorious sound I'd ever heard. My head snapped up, finding him sprinting down the terminal, his blue eyes wide. My Alexander.
